


The Perfect Nightmare

by dianesmalone



Category: Cheers
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Nightmare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 21:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21004079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianesmalone/pseuds/dianesmalone
Summary: Sam has a nightmare that Sumner is trying once again to steal Diane away. When Sumner actually shows up at the bar the next day, Sam begins to believe that his nightmare is coming true.





	The Perfect Nightmare

_ Sam walks out from the hallway that led to the pool room and back toward the bar. He tosses his white rag over his left shoulder and whistles to a tune that had been stuck in his head all morning as he approaches the bar.  _

_ Diane smiles as she watches Sam do all of this. “You’re in a good mood” she remarks.  _

_ He steps behind the bar and walks over to where she was sitting on the other side. “It’s hard not to be, so far today has been a pretty good one” Sam replies. _

_ “Oh yeah? Has it?” Diane questions with a knowing smile.  _

_He chuckles in response and leans in for a not so quick kiss. As the two are sharing a moment, the door to Cheers opens and Sam pulls way. At first he doesn’t completely tear away and continues gazing into her eyes like a lovesick puppy dog. Diane plants another sweet kiss on his lips and completely pulls away after. _

_She then slides off the bar stool and begins to walk toward the pool room herself. Sam smiles a little and watches her the entire way until he can’t see her anymore. Was he ever head over heels. _

_About ten or so minutes later Sam begins to make his way toward the pool room again. It was silly but he already missed her and she had been back there for awhile. Though right as he’s about to step into the room he stops dead in his tracks when he hears the voices coming from it._

_First it was a laugh. Not anyone’s laugh of course, a laugh he knew quite well and one he grew to adore. It was Diane’s laugh. The laugh was followed by a man’s snicker, one he didn’t recognize. It didn’t take him long to realize who it was though because his voice followed right after and filled Sam with hatred. It was Sumner. The man was like a disease, no matter how hard they tried he just wouldn’t go away. _

_He feels his heart drop to his stomach as he hears the words they exchange. _

_“Come on Diane, think of the world I could show you if you went with me. The life I could provide for you. It’s more than Sam could ever dream of giving you.”_

_There’s a pause but her answer finally comes, “okay... let’s go but you go out first and I’ll come a little later. I don’t want anyone to be suspicious.”_

_Crack. His heart had been struck by a knife wielded by the person he cherished more than anything on this earth. Sam’s eyes begin to fill with tears and he closes them so that they don’t come, he didn’t want anyone to know how this was already ruining him._⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Sam springs up in bed in a cold sweat and looks around the room. It takes him a moment to realize that all of what just happened was only a dream. An absolute horrific nightmare. He glances at the clock and notices that it was just 4:00am and it really all was nothing but a perfect nightmare. Off to his right was Diane, still fast asleep next to him. 

He lets out a slow breath and pulls himself out of bed. A glass of water seemed to be a good way to calm him down and assure himself it was a dream. Besides, a moment alone after a dream like that was definitely what he needed. 

Downstairs in the kitchen, he quietly sips the water. Over and over again the dream plays and the moment that he heard Diane agreeing to go away with Sumner sticks at the very front of his thoughts. “It was only a dream” he tells himself. 

As Sam is standing there, he hears footsteps approaching the kitchen only to be greeted by the sight of a sleepy Diane in her slightly disheveled nightgown. “Sammy? What are you doing down here?” 

Diane then approaches him with a concerned look, having noticed his distress. 

He shrugs it off, “It’s nothing sweetheart. Just had a bad dream that’s all.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she questions and moves closer to him.

Sam shakes his head in return, “No, no, it’s nothing really. Let’s get you back to bed, babe.”

Before he can move though, Diane stops him and brings her hands up to his cheeks. “Whatever it is... just remember that I’m here for you okay? That I love you.”

“I love you too” he returns and feels a slight weight lift off of him. It was only a dream.

Diane pushes onto her tippy toes and presses a kiss to his forehead before pulling away. “Okay... let’s go back to sleep.”

Sam nods and lets her guide the way back to their room. He felt somewhat better about the dream but it was still lingering in his mind. It would probably take a little while to try and forget about it. ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Sam serves Norm another beer and as he’s doing so, he looks past him and spots Diane walking out of the pool room. He smiles at the sight of her then takes a few steps over to where she had set down her tray and was putting aside some glasses. 

“You left awful early this morning Sam. I barely got a chance to kiss you goodbye, everything alright?”

“Aw I’m sorry sweetheart. I think that dream last night left me a little more unsettled than I thought. I’m alright now” he assures. 

That was not completely true. He had come in early because of the dream but he wasn’t as good as he claimed. The dream was still, for the most part, prominent in his mind. The only times it wasn’t was when he kept himself busy with talking to friends and working. Sam had been somewhat distant with Diane too. He knew it was only a dream and she would never consider leaving him, but he needed some time to process that. Losing her was still one of his biggest insecurities. 

Diane leans over the bar, giving him a gentle and warm kiss on the lips. She then smiles as she pulls away, grabs her tray, and begins to go back to work without a word. 

He smiles a little at that, watching her for a moment. The intimate moment that needed no words made him feel better. It just reminded him that she did in fact love him. 

Twenty minutes later and Diane was in the pool room again taking orders while Sam was in his office getting some paperwork squared away. While he’s working, an idea comes to Sam. Maybe being distant with Diane wasn’t the best idea. That he needed to work through this silly dream of his by spending more time with her. Yes, that was it. They could take the rest of the night off and go out on a romantic evening together. 

With that thought Sam stops with the paperwork for now and quickly walks out of his office to find Diane. His eyes scan the bar for her, “Carla, where’s Diane?” he questions as he begins to walk around. 

“Pool room. Be careful though, she’s with the scum that the cat dragged in.”

He doesn’t take her comment very seriously and proceeds to walk toward the pool room without a second thought. It didn’t cross his mind that she was back there with anyone terrible. Maybe Carla was just referring to some jerk that happened to stumble into the bar and Diane was taking one for the team and taking his order.

Wrong. Well, half wrong. Sam only takes a few steps into the pool room and stops in his tracks at the sight of Diane talking to none other than Sumner Sloan. 

He can feel his heart begin to go into overdrive and start beating out of control. No, no this couldn’t be happening. No he was just in another damn nightmare. One he was bound to wake up from any moment. This would all be over with and Sumner and Diane wouldn’t be standing there across from each other chatting. No he’d wake up in a cold sweat again with her sleeping peacefully next to him. 

“Sam? Are you alright? Darling, you look like you’ve seen a ghost” Diane questions as she approaches him.

Sam’s vision blurs and he steps back, shaking his head. His brain had already gone into overdrive. Logic and reason had gone completely out the window and his insecurities had taken over. His absolute worst nightmare was coming true. What other reason did Sumner have to be here? He had tried to take Diane away before by with the lie that he was still with his wife Barbara. The entire night was just a way of attempting to take her back. Sumner only assumes that Sam was a complete idiot. 

There’s a long pause before Sam speaks again, “this can’t be real...” he mutters. 

Sam then turns and walks out of the pool room. However he doesn’t stop at the bar, he walks right past it and toward the door. If he stayed here a second longer he would break. He needed to get out as quickly as possible.  ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Diane stands in the pool room, utterly confused as she watches Sam walk away. What was he talking about? What couldn’t be real? Did it have to do with this nightmare of his?

She noticed the effect it was having on him all day long. He was distant and that wasn’t very usual for Sam unless something was really bothering him. He had told her that he didn’t want to discuss the dream and Diane respected that. She wasn’t going to pry, or she was at least going to try not to pry. Clearly this was bothering him a lot more than she understood, prying was a necessity now.

Diane turns toward Sumner, “It was nice of you to think of me for this position at Boston University but I believe I’m going to have to decline. It’s only best.”

It wasn’t like Diane wanted to see Sumner more often anyway. She despised the man and what he had done to her. She didn’t care if she saw him again and certainly wasn’t expecting to see him today. 

Sumner nods, “Well that’s rather disappointing to hear. If that’s your final decision than so be it. See you around.” With that, he too walks out of the room leaving Diane alone.

She scowls as he goes, what a pompous way to leave things. He truly was the scum of the earth. God how did she ever think she was in love with someone like him? What an idiot she had been. 

A couple of moments later, Diane comes out from the pool room and looks around for Sam. When she doesn’t see him she resorts to his office only to find it empty as well. She turns to the bar, “Woody have you seen Sam?”

“Yeah Miss Chambers, he walked out of here just after he left the pool room. Didn’t say where he was goin’ though.”

She nods, “That’s alright Woody. I think I know where he went.”

Diane takes off her apron and sets it down with her tray. After that she walks toward the door and right out it, she had to find out what in the world was bothering Sam. ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Ten minutes later, Diane arrives at the park. Specifically she had gone to one of the baseball diamonds. Diamond number three, it was where Sam liked to go when he really wanted to be alone and the bar wasn’t an option. She begins walking toward it and spots him sitting at the bleachers just staring out into the field. A sigh comes from her, she hated it when he was hurt. 

“You know, I really don’t appreciate you leaving like that earlier.” Diane comments as she takes a seat down next to him. 

“How did you know I’d be here?” He questions and glances over at her.

Diane gives him a look, “I know you better than you think.”

Sam raises a brow at that, “Do you?”

“Well for one thing, I’m your fiancée so I would hope so. Your favorite color is blue, your favorite food is chinese, you secretly love romantic movies but if anyone were to ask you’d deny it, and you actually love cats.”

There’s a pause for a moment but then he answers, “Okay maybe you do know me better than I thought.”

Diane smiled a little and places her hand on his thigh “So are you going to tell me what’s going on? Why you left?”

Sam lets out a sigh and begins to explain the dream he had. How Diane had been convinced to leave Sam for Sumner. That in a way it all felt so real that he had been trying to process it all morning. Then Sumner actually came to the bar and he let his emotions take over. 

As Sam is explaining himself, Diane feels as if a mallet had slammed into her chest. That was what this was all about? A stupid dream that would never come true? She was both heartbroken and angry. It doesn’t take but seconds for the anger to take over. “So you’re telling me that you’ve been distancing yourself from me all day because of a dream? You just up and left the bar like that because of a dream?” The annoyance was beginning to build in her voice as she spoke.

“Diane I-“ Sam begins.

“No. It’s my turn to speak. I cannot believe that after all the time I have spent being nothing but faithful to you, you just think I’m going to up and leave you for someone else. Do you want to know why Sumner came to the bar? He came to see if I was interested in a position at Boston University. He thought I’d be the right candidate. I turned it down because I thought you were upset that I was around him. This is absurd” she fumes. 

Diane was taking this to heart. She spent so long doing nothing but loving him and he just let some dream convince him otherwise. Did he not trust her? Was her love not enough to convince him that he was all she would ever need?

Her eyes filled with tears then she stands up, “if you can’t trust me... then a marriage between us is never going to work.” Diane pulls her wedding ring off her finger and gives it back. 

Sam looks down at her engagement ring in his hand and back up to say something but Diane had already started walking away. 

He watches as she goes, her car quickly pulls out of the parking lot minutes later and off into the streets of Boston. Tears began streaming down his cheeks while doing this. Sam hadn’t expected their conversation to go this way. Of course the one thing he never wanted to happen happened. How could he have been so stupid? ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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As the day turns into night, Sam pulls his corvette into the driveway of the home that he and Diane now owned together. They had been living there for only a month but it was probably the greatest month of his life. Waking up next to her every morning without the stress of having to leave or vice versa was an irreplaceable feeling. Most mornings they’d sleep in as late as they could wrapped in each other’s arms. Other mornings they spent still in bed but instead of sleeping they would be making love. It was a dream come true for him and he couldn’t imagine spending his mornings any other way or with any other person.

Now he was being faced with that possibly becoming a reality. Diane had given her ring back earlier in the day and that left Sam unsure of what was next. He had come home not just because he lived there but because he was desperate to fix things with her. This couldn’t be the end of their relationship, not after everything they had been through. 

As Sam is approaching the front door, he glances up at their bedroom window and finds the room to be illuminated by what he knew to be Diane’s reading light. At least she was here. 

A few minutes later and Sam was in the house and going up the stairs. He could only hope that Diane would agree to talk to him. 

When he reaches their bedroom and goes to open the door, he finds it locked. He gently knocks, “Sweetheart... it’s me. Can I come in?”

“No! I never wanna see your fat ugly face again!” She exclaims.

She was definitely still mad at him.

He sighs, “Please... Diane I just want to talk to you.”

Nothing. Not a word, not movement from the bed to the door, absolutely nothing comes from the other side of the door. Sam gives her at least another minute before he speaks again, “Alright well... I guess I’ll just do all the talking from out here.”

Sam takes a deep breath then begins, “I never meant to hurt you Diane. I let myself get so caught up in my own emotions that I didn’t realize how my irrational thoughts could hurt you. I know I should’ve just told you about the dream when it happened and I’m sorry I didn’t. My biggest fear, my perfect nightmare, is losing you. Believe me... I know how silly that sounds but it’s true. I tend to self destruct the good things I have in my life... my baseball career, my first marriage, our relationship...”

He takes a moment to gather his thoughts again. It was still difficult for him to completely open up. Sam would much rather take all of his sappy emotions and push them down into the depths of himself. He sighs before continuing, “I guess I’ve always had a way of ruining the good things in my life because I’m afraid of being hurt by them. I’m sorry I’ve let it happen to us... more times than one now. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and it has taken me way too long to realize that. I also hope you know that I do trust you... or I wouldn’t be here spilling my guts to you. Well... I guess what I’m tryin’ to say is that I’m really, really sorry for all of this and I hope that you can forgive me.”

There’s another moment of silence that seems to last a lifetime. Sam lets out a sigh at that, maybe she just couldn’t forgive him. That he had pushed her too far over the edge and there was no coming back. He stares at their door a little longer before turning away to go back downstairs. 

However, he takes only a couple of steps before he hears the door to their bedroom swing open followed by Diane saying, “Wait.”

He turns back and steps in front of their door again. She stares at him for a moment before lunging forward, grabbing both of his cheeks and pulling him in for a hard kiss. 

Diane takes a few steps backward and pulls him into their bedroom. The kiss lasts a few seconds longer and she pulls away, “Don’t you dare ever do something like that again, okay?”

Sam nods in return, “I won’t I promise. I really am sorry.”

Her arms slide around his waist and she lets out a sigh, “I forgive you. I’m sorry for being a tad irrational, I know you struggle with insecurities.”

He shakes his head, “You have nothing to be sorry for, it’s me who’s sorry.”

“Yes, well, next time please... please just talk to me. We’re a team and we work through our issues together, big or small.”

Sam nods in agreement to that, “I will I promise.”

Diane nods as well, “Good.” She then rests her head down against his chest and closes her eyes for a moment. 

“Diane?”

“Yes?”

“I want you to take that job at the university. I don’t want you turning away a job because of me. I don’t like the idea of you seeing Sumner more often but... I’ll manage. You deserve this more than anyone” he assures.

She pulls away and looks up at him, shaking her head, “I don’t think I’m quite ready for a position like that... besides I really like my current job... and my boss.” A small smile comes across her face as she says that.

That brings a smile to his face too, “Oh, do you?”

Diane nods, “Mm mhm... he’s a tough on the surface but when you really get to know him, he’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met. I think you’d like him.”

They were both smiling like idiots again, unable to not fall back into their ways. “Tell me more” Sam insists.

“Well,” she leans in a little closer, “for one thing he’s an exceptional kisser.” Diane murmurs and presses her lips back against his. This time a little slower and more passionately than before. Her arms slide around his neck and she begins to take a few steps backward toward the bed. 

They both take a seat without breaking the kiss. Her hands move all the way down to the hem of his shirt and begin to pull it up over his head, breaking the two for only a second. 

The kiss however breaks again as Sam pauses, “Mm wait I believe...” he reaches into his pocket and pulls out her engagement ring with a smile, “this is yours.”

Diane looks down at the ring and her chest fills with warmth. Was she ever happy to see it. Her finger had felt so naked the moment she took it off. All afternoon it made her feel uncomfortable. She had grown accustomed to having the ring on her finger everyday. Not having it on was foreign. 

She sticks out her left hand and watches as e slides the ring back on to its rightful place. Glancing back up at him, another sensation of warmth flows over her. Though there was a part of her still upset about what he had done, it didn’t diminish how she felt about him. She loved him with every fiber of her being. 

Diane places her left hand on his cheek and brings his lips back to hers to continue where they left off.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies! Wow I have to say that I’m honestly really proud of how this one turned out. I know I’ve written about Sumner causing issues before but I’m personally a sucker for some angst. Lolol. Also a big thank you to my friend Mayee who helped me a lot in writing and editing this story, you’re the best.
> 
> I really hope you all enjoyed this one. As always, kudos and feedback are welcome!
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


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